Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation facing financial challenges

The Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation (MCH Foundation) has a history of over 40 years serving the Mendocino Coast community by raising funds to meet local healthcare needs. Most recently, that has involved offering scholarships to young people who are pursuing careers in nursing and other health professions. During our long history, we have worked hard to be transparent with the community we serve.

MCHFoundation came out of the pandemic in relatively good shape financially, which was a win since many of our fundraisers had to be canceled or held virtually. In 2023, we were excited to return to in-person events and held a four-day Winesong fundraiser to celebrate. Unfortunately, we experienced significant, unexpected cost overruns along with lower-than-predicted pledges. We also have experienced delays in being reimbursed for a large grant, and this significant funding has yet to be received.

These factors, along with other unexpected expenses associated with the needed renovation of our office building, have put our organization in a cash flow deficit. As a result, the MCHF Board of Directors has decided to reduce our staff. This saddens us greatly, as our staff have done a wonderful job, and we are taking this opportunity to publicly thank each of them for their service.

We remain committed to this community and to fundraising to fill local healthcare needs. We plan to maintain and continue the scholarship program, which has been very successful and has awarded dozens of scholarships to local students since it began four years ago. We remain committed to honoring the scholarships awarded to date. We also plan to continue to hold many of our regular fundraisers.

We will continue to keep you, our community, and our donors informed as to our progress. We intend to learn from this situation and grow from the experience. We are working hard to maintain your